Stella Maris (1918)

Why it's included:
We've been heavy into the comedy lately. Of course it makes sense to do short comedy when introducing kids to silent pictures, as it tends to be far more palatable, but it was time for drama and Stella Maris is here to give us a taste of the dramatic (melodramatic?). It features a powerful performance in a dual role from Mary Pickford.

Specs:
About an hour and a half long, black and white, silent. We were lucky that our local library had a copy on dvd, but it seems to be available on youtube as well. (By the way, when you have a choice, it makes all the difference in the world to view these old movies on dvd rather than a crummy low-def youtube video).

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
6.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Mary Pickford plays Stella Maris, a beautiful young invalid being raised in luxury by overprotective guardians. Pickford also plays Unity Blake, also an orphan, but plain, plucky and worldly. This is the story of their challenges in life, including how their paths eventually cross and they fall in love with the same man. The story is riveting, sad, powerful and ultimately reaffirming.

I was surprised by how well my kids took to this movie considering the serious material and heavy dark tone, but they loved it. Mary Pickford is compelling in both roles. You can really appreciate that actual talent must have played a huge role in her stardom. She is so good at  inhabiting each character completely, that you can hardly tell it is the same actress playing the parts. Had there been Academy Awards back then, she would have been a shoo-in. The film is also blessed with excellent direction and artistic filming, including the well-done shots where the two Pickford characters appear together! We love thinking about what special effects were possible back then and how they were done.

Beware of a large amount of shocking material here - including murder, a brutal beating (just off-camera) but still intense, cruelty toward Unity by the person who adopts her, substance abuse and jailing. This movie would not have been made 15 years later once the production Code set in. (I think, maybe, the fact that the movie was so shocking is part of what made my kids love it). Although the film was intense, it was not gratuitous; it was a tight meaningful story.

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A Dog's Life (1918)

Why it's included:
Although we tucked a few more Chaplin films into our festival at a later date, this one was our first. With very little experience of Chaplin and no real sense of where to start, I picked this film, truth be told, because it had a "dog" in the title.

Specs:
35 minutes; black and white, silent movie. Available on youtube.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
7.13

More about the movie and our reaction to it:
Chaplin is fantastic in his little Tramp character and he spends the movie side by side with a very sweet dog ('Scraps'). I don't know about you, but for us somehow, seeing a dog from long ago starring in a film is just charming.

The film is packed with great scenes and Chaplin's relationship with the dog is very appealing. Several moments in the movie really capture the imagination -- including the one where Chaplin rolls back and forth under the fence evading a cop, and later, sneaks rolls into his mouth right under the nose of the suspicious vendor. Both are hilarious.

As with other really old movies, A Dog's Life takes a different kind of viewing to fully appreciate. Almost all old films move at a much slower pace than we're used to. Some of them (this one included) have quick-witted hilarious bits, punctuated by longer sections of calm. To best enjoy a silent movie, make sure everyone is in the right mood and willing to get into the rhythm and pace. Once  you've achieved that state, you may find that you love this film too. But don't be surprised if your kids say its boring.

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The Immigrant (1917)

Why it's included:
Charlie Chaplin as the little Tramp. Nuff said.

Specs:
25 minutes, black and white, silent. We watched it on Netflix - its part of a Charlie Chaplin short films collection. I notice that it also seems to be available on Youtube.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
6.75

More thoughts about the film and our reaction to it:
Here's a primer, for people who don't do much of it, on how to watch a silent comedy, especially a Charlie Chaplin film: don't get too hung up on the plot. Just open your eyes, sit back, and enjoy whatever it is that is happening. It is primarily a visual experience. For instance, I can't tell you exactly what the card game on the boat was about, but I know that I loved watching Chaplin shuffling. Priceless.

Its hard to say exactly why the guy is so funny. He just is. For my younger child, its all about the big pants. For me, it's something about his silly smile and expressions - there's just an explosion of funniness popping out of him all the time. Its like a force of nature.

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Coney Island (1917)

Why it's here:
We were looking to include something from the Fatty Arbuckle/Buster Keaton comedy team. This was a good choice because it contains incredible shots of Coney Island in 1917. Actually, this movie manages to kill several birds with one stone as it also allows you to introduce your kids to the Keystone Cops (Kops?).

Specs:
About 25 minutes, black and white, silent, and easy to find on Youtube.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

7.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
I gotta 'fess up. I stuck this film into the list at a later date. When I first put our festival together I didn't really care about Buster Keaton or Fatty Arbuckle, nor did I have any reason to want to see them together. It wasn't until after we watched Sherlock Jr. (1924) and were blown away by the talent of Keaton, that it seemed an important to beef up on his career.

By discovering Keaton, I also discovered Arbuckle -- his talent, his role in giving Keaton a start, and the true story behind Arbuckle having been falsely accused of a crime (see that story in another post). Speaking of Keaton's start in films, it came in 1917, when he visited Arbuckle's New York film studio and was given the opportunity for a small part in the Butcher Boy. Keaton was a natural. Arbuckle immediately put him on his comedy team where they made about a dozen short films together before going their separate ways (cinamatographically) though remaining close friends for life.

Coney Island, one of their earlier collaborations, is enjoyable for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is being able to see Keaton smiling, laughing, and clapping in an animated way, before he adopted his famous deadpan style. Fatty is very funny in this as well, beginning with an opening scene where he's playing with sand on the beach in such a childish way that my kids felt sure that the woman next to him must be his mom (rather than his wife.) I'd have been happy to let them persist in that belief since he subsequently ditches her and runs around after a young woman, but the screen titles told the truth.

Anyway, their onscreen pairing is charming and the whole thing fun in a juvenile way. This is s a film that you probably won't need to pull teeth, or explain the importance of, in order to get your kids to watch it with you.

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Intolerance (1916)

Why it's here:
I had intended to include D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in this film fest, because it is always mentioned as monumental cinema. But the more I read about the film's heavy violence and racism, it just did not seem in fitting with what I was trying to do this summer.  So, we went with Intolerance instead, also a Griffith masterpiece, but more focused on love. The film was inventive for its use of four interwoven tales set in four different time periods, each vignette employing similar story themes.

Specs:
3 hours. Yes, you read that right. This is an epic. Black and white (with color filters employed to distinguish among the 4 vignettes) and silent. We watched it on Netflix.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

5.83

More about the movie and our reaction to it:
The movie was visually stunning relative to all that had come before. This was so astonishingly better quality a film that there is no question Griffith was a master of his art. His use of close-ups made the experience so vibrant we felt we felt that the actors of 96 years ago were sitting in our living room, and the depth of field was also phenomenal. I found myself obsessively scanning the background to look at details simply because I could -- the details were so sharp. Truly a grand epic on a larger scale than most of what gets made today, this film employed 1000s of extras, massive extraordinary sets and beautifully detailed costumes. (Though families should bear in mind that some of the costumes are pretty racy.)

The movie is worth watching (or I should say starting to watch) for its spectacle value alone and to help appreciate the genius of Griffith who clearly had an impressive vision and the ability to conceptualize how film could be used. But we didn't stand a chance of seeing the whole thing. That would take a special level of interest and commitment from a modern family. My 13 year old was bored after a half hour, while my 10 year old (who has a more natural affinity for silents) enjoyed it almost as much as I did, but even we only lasted about an hour and a half.

Ultimately, we recommend it, but also recognize that successful viewing of silent film drama requires a special interest and the desire to make a leap out of what feels normal and expected.

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His New Job (1915)

Why it's here:
When we started our festival, I intended to share with the boys work by all the major comedians and comedy teams I could think of (Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and on and on), but as we talked to other people and researched films to include, new names kept popping up. Ben Turpin was one of those names. We added this film into our festival much later -- after we'd already watched films through the 1940s -- because it would not only provide us with a chance to see Turpin, but almost more importantly, was available on Netflix and starred Charlie Chaplin. When in doubt, make sure Chaplin is present.

Specs:
1/2 hour, black and white, silent. We watched it on Netflix - found within a Chaplin collection.

Our family's average rating:
6.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This film is really cool for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it was Charlie Chaplin's first credited screen appearance. He'd been in many films before, but was always part of an ensemble cast and not singled out for screen credit. So there's a first. Another real shocker that I did not notice until reading about the film after our viewing, but this may have been Gloria Swanson's very first on-screen appearance!  You can just make her out in the opening scene as an office worker.

Another great surprise, that ended up being my favorite part of the movie, was a wonderful behind-the-scenes glimpse of early filmmaking. The "New Job" underlying the title, refers to  Chaplin being hired as an extra/carpenter/actor to work on a film production. This is a great chance to see the back stage area, star's dressing room, hand-cranked silent film camera, and many other treats, all circa 1915!

And I suppose I should address the impetus for our film: Ben Turpin. He is very funny and entertaining, but this was not a major film for him. His scenes with Chaplin are wonderful, but he spends so much time on the floor, we didn't get much of a glimpse of his famously crossed eyes. We liked him enough though that we will look for other films by him if they come within our sphere.

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And here's another pic, so you can see Gloria Swanson before she was "big"

The Masquerader (1914)

Why it's included:
Prior to his becoming an independent filmmaker, Charlie Chaplin appeared in comedy shorts with, among others, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. We wanted to see the two of them together and to see Chaplin before he was performing as the iconic Little Tramp character.

Specs:
16 minutes long, black and white, silent film. Available online. The best copy we were able to find on Youtube was not in great shape - sections of the film are dark and contrast poor. 

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

6.17

More about the movie and our reaction to it:
We need to get this out of the way right now. You may be someone, like many others, who only knows the name Fatty Arbuckle as synonymous with horrible scandal. Let me spread the word that Fatty was innocent. Here's the story:

On Labor Day weekend in 1921, Fatty threw a big raucous party in San Francisco that went on for days. Many fashionable Hollywood personnel attended, including a young starlet named Virginia Rappe. Details are a bit sketchy, but it seems clear enough that while there, she got very drunk and collapsed. Those at the party, including Fatty, attempted to provide some assistance to her but ultimately she died at the hospital of a ruptured bladder. Not only did Fatty not abuse or murder her, no one did. She was not murdered. Nevertheless, Fatty was tried for the crime and ultimately acquitted, but his career was over due to the continuos skewering he received in the press. The public turned on him and Hollywood banned him. Now, you might still find him liable for having thrown such a party in the first place, or for not rendering enough assistance to Rappe, that's fine. But from where I sit, I see Fatty as the victim of a ruthless brand of journalism that ruined his career and happiness to sell papers. (Buster Keaton later told the story of how William Randolph Hearst admitted he sold more newspapers on the Fatty Arbuckle scandal than he did on the sinking of the Lusitania).

With that out of the way, lets move on to what should be Fatty's real legacy: he was a remarkably prolific comedian and pioneering filmmaker in the early days of cinema. His work helped shape the very roots of comedy. He took under his wing and assisted the careers of both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton (as well as Bob Hope), and was a silly, sweet-looking, childish man, who looked surprisingly good in drag, was stunningly fleet-footed and athletic for his size, and a clever filmmaker. His style of slapstick is perfect for kids in some ways - very physical and very goofy, he's like a cartoon come to life - but inappropriate in others: Fatty's films tend to be earthy and libidinous, with wives often being treated poorly or escaped from.

So lets get on to "The Masquerader"! This is a funny and fairly watchable film but we don't recommend it highly. The plot is hard to follow and rather nonsensical. And, as I mentioned above, the film quality is poor enough to be distracting. But there are a couple of nice attractions including the scene with the two stars preparing themselves at their dressing table, and a cute scene where Chaplin gets in drag and becomes as a very pretty girl. This film may not be the "best" for either of these stars, but we chose it to experience them together. Its great to see a young Chaplin, sans moustache, looking nothing like we're used to seeing him. 

We will recommend some other Chaplin films that are far more enjoyable than this, and, if you're interested in more Arbuckle, you can't do better than to watch him in any of the short films he made with Buster Keaton between 1917 and 1919.



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Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Why it's included:
This is a very early example of an animated film and may be one of the first that you would properly call a "cartoon" -- intended to be light, fun and friendly for kids. Created by hand-drawing 10,000 images, it pioneered animation techniques.

Specs:
12 minutes long, black and white, silent. And very easy to find online.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

7.13

More about the film and our response to it:
Fun and unique, Gertie the Dinosaur is both a film and a "making of-" rolled into one. It starts out with live actors, a group of friends out for a ride. They get a flat tire, walk into the nearby museum and, checking out the bones of a dinosaur, one of them (Winsor McKay, our animator, playing himself) is inspired to produce the animation.

There are some title cards explaining how he did the drawings and filmed them, then the friends sit down in front of a projector to watch the film. Action switches to sweet Gertie who, as a character, is quite appealing.

Watching Gertie gives great perspective. The methods of animation that kids are so familiar with had to start somewhere. This reaches back to the earliest days of animated film when people were just working out how to do it. Definitely worth seeing.

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The Last Drop of Water (1911)

Why it's here:
We added this film, an early Western, into our list in order to beef up on some early era times we'd moved through too quickly.

Specs:
Just 15 minutes, black and white; easily available online in the public domain. We watched on youtube.

Our family's average rating:
6.5

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is surprisingly good. So much so that I imagine most modern viewers (even those with no experience watching silents) would find it entertaining. It is directed by D.W. Griffith and you can really see just how good a director he was. He was excellent at using the camera to focus your attention, with cutting and editing film, with changing the camera's perspective and filming backgrounds (like extras in crowd scenes), to allowing the actors to really act and, in short, just filming a story in a very complete way.

The Western format is such a staple of American film, it feels odd to hark back in time to its earliest roots and see how many of the conventions we are now so used to were first employed. He's got the Indian attack on the wagon train. (Not sure about this, but the Indians may in fact be played by Native actors). He's got the hard-drinking cowboy who makes good. He's got the girl-next-door in peril, the stark landscape and the empty canteens. However, I think none of these can properly be called cliches when you're filming them in 1911!

I was fascinated by the landscape that looked to me like Arizona, with cholla and prickly pear and short scrub. But it turns out that Griffith filmed this in the deserts around the San Fernando Valley in California. I was surprised to learn that because the film was made before the movie industry had re-located itself to Southern California, but, apparently, Griffith took his film company on location in winter to California and was one of the first directors to chose this area to make films.

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